Microplastics are everywhere – from the deepest oceans to the food on our plates. But how alarmed should we be? What is the truth behind these tiny plastic particles that have infiltrated every corner of our environment?
From bottled water to polar ice, microplastics are no longer just a pollution issue; they are a daily reality. But does their omnipresence warrant panic, or are we still in the early stages of understanding their impact?
Let’s delve into the science, speculation, and the fine line between concern and paranoia.
One of the most common concerns many of us have, thanks to incessant fearmongering on social media, is that we are ingesting microplastics in our food. According to influencers, each time we use industrially produced iodized salt, sugar, non-stick cookware, packaged food, plastic containers to store food, etc., we are bombarded by microplastics. And, it all sounds very convincing.
Microplastics exist everywhere. They are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and every other place imaginable. Their amount can vary from source to source, but they are “omnipresent”. There is nothing you can do about them, so should you be worried about them?
What are microplastics?
Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5mm in diameter. They come from two major sources. The primary source is where we actually need microplastics, such as microbeads in cosmetics, as abrasives in toothpaste, and other industrial applications. These microplastics get into the environment – air, water, etc.
Due to tighter regulations over the last decade, the use of microbeads has gone down significantly. Experts estimate that primary sources now account for only about 20-30% of microplastics globally.
Environmental factors like Sunlight, UV, water, physical wear-and-tear, etc., commonly degrade larger plastic pieces into smaller ones. These are secondary sources of microplastics. For instance, objects like fishing nets, packaging materials, microfibers from synthetic textiles, especially when they are washed, natural wear-and-tear of vehicle tyres, paints and coatings from every building, etc., all account for secondary sources of microplastics. These account for 70-80% of all microplastics.
Can microplastics be regulated?
Primary sources
Primary sources are generally easier to regulate. Governments and regulatory bodies can force industries to use fewer microbeads. They can incentivize research to develop durable materials that don’t break down into small particles and enter the environment.
Secondary sources
Secondary sources, on the other hand, are much harder to regulate, since it involves the entire population using plastics, which is about everyone on the planet.
How do microplastics enter our bodies?
Drinking Water
Experts estimate that 40-50% of all microplastics that enter our bodies come from drinking water. A lot of the microplastics generated through primary and secondary sources make their way into groundwater and the sea, from where they eventually make it to our drinking water.
If you use a reverse osmosis filter or the RO filter, the filter’s membrane would filter out anything larger than a water molecule. This would significantly reduce your microplastic intake from drinking water. Avoiding bottled water can also significantly reduce microplastic intake.
Breathing
The second largest source of microplastics entering our bodies is breathing. If you live in a greener part of the city or in the hills or in a village, you would be inhaling way fewer microplastics than someone living close to an industrial, highly polluted, or super busy area. About 30-40% of all microplastics found in our bodies come from breathing.
Seafood
A lot of the microplastics we produce end up in the oceans. Some shellfish, particularly clams, mussels, and oysters, are filter feeders. This means they take in the ocean water, filter out the plankton in the water, which is their food, and push out the remaining water. While doing this, they end up concentrating a lot of microplastics in their bodies. Shellfish alone contribute to 10-15% of the microplastics that are in our bodies.
Regular fish are not a major source. Crustaceans like prawns and crabs are a small source, relatively. However, clams, mussels, and oysters are the largest source among seafood. So, if shellfish are not a huge part of your diet, this source is not much of a concern to you.
Then, is microwaving popcorn, using plastic containers for storage, milk packets, table salt, sugar, packaged food, etc., a source of concern?
Generally, these sources form less than 1% of the total amount of microplastics we consume. Less than 1%!!!
So, you can safely ignore all the scaremongering videos you might have encountered on social media that put you off the things you used to, out of fear of ingesting microplastics.
What happens when microplastics enter our bodies?
The real health risk
As we discussed above, a lot of microplastics enter our bodies through our drinking water. These go down our gastrointestinal tract. Our gastrointestinal tract is designed to excrete anything larger than 150 microns, as is. These particles don’t get absorbed, especially because of their large size.
If the particles are smaller than that, there is a small risk that they can be absorbed into our bloodstream. So far, there have only been studies on rats that have observed that a very large amount of microplastic exposure had a small effect on the gut microbes. There is no evidence yet of any such effect in humans.
Simply put, we have been consuming and breathing microplastics for quite a while now, and we have not observed or found evidence of any serious harm to the gut. Lab studies do show that very tiny particles like nanoplastics can cause oxidative stress, but again, it has not been observed to occur in humans.
We typically live in highly polluted urban Indian cities. The particles in the air can cause some irritation to our respiratory tract, often causing coughing, wheezing, etc. If you have spent a few days in a pristine hill station and then return to regular urban life, you would know the difference. However, there is little scientific evidence of this kind of minor irritation, unless you work or live in an extremely polluted environment where the concentration levels of particulate matter are very high. This poses a serious risk for some people. The harmful gases and dust particles in the air pose a far greater risk to human health than microplastics.
Particulate leeching
Some of the molecules that leech out from certain plastics are, by themselves, major industrial pollutants like phthalates, BPA, etc. Influencers commonly use scary terms like endocrine disruptors and carcinogens, etc., to freak you out. However, evidence suggests that our exposure to these molecules is super tiny and mostly insignificant, compared to our exposure to other compounds and sources.
Cancer
So far, we have found no evidence that microplastic exposure causes cancer in humans. Of course, studies have taken rats and subjected them to an unreal amount of micro and nanoplastics, and seen them develop tumors. However, there is no evidence that this would happen in humans at the levels of exposure we normally have.
Plastics Are Indispensable For Life Today
Plastics are absolutely critical to modern life. They are present in everything and are everywhere, due to their versatility, durability, and cost-effectiveness.
In the healthcare space, you cannot imagine syringes, IV bags, prosthetics, personal protective equipment, etc., without plastics. Plastics ensure sterility and patient safety.
Food preservation relies heavily on plastic packaging to maintain freshness and prevent contamination. Can you even think of packaging food in any other way that is durable, sterile, and safe?
In transportation, plastics contribute to making vehicles and airplanes lighter, thereby enhancing fuel efficiency and reducing emissions.
Our electronics – from smartphones to computers depend on plastic components for insulation and structural elements.
Construction materials like PVC pipes and insulation utilize plastics for their durability and resistance to corrosion.
Even in agriculture, plastics play a vital role, especially in irrigation systems and greenhouse films. From pumps to farm equipment, everything needs plastics.
We know the world to be as it is today because of plastics. Eliminating plastics entirely, currently, is impractical because no other material on the planet offers the same range, durability, safety, and utility as plastics.
The best we can do right now is create a combination of intelligent policies and regulations against companies to reduce the use of microplastics, single-use plastics, etc. Additionally, we must think practically and mindfully about what we as individuals can do.
Studies have found microplastics in breast milk, in our stool, etc., but evidence of presence is not evidence of harm.
Studies for reference
- Wear and Tear of Tyres: A Stealthy Source of Microplastics in the Environment
- Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Bottled Water
- Microplastic Pollution in Table Salts from China
- Microplastics as a Vector for Chemicals in the Aquatic Environment
- Toxicity of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Mammalian Systems
- Interaction between Microplastics and Microorganisms as well as Gut Microbiota
- Anthropogenic Contamination of Tap Water, Beer, and Sea Salt
- Microplastic Contamination in an Urban Area: The case of Greater Paris
- Primary Microplastics in the Ocean
